Recap: Monster Energy Backyard Battle Austria 2024

The Monster Energy Backyard Battle series, aimed at paying homage to "the classic backyard jams in the early days of freeride," continued this week in Austria. The Ruso brothers , Elias and Daniel, along with Clemens Kaudela hosted the second event in the five-part series.

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Elias says that what makes Backyard Battle stand out from other events is its freeform nature. "There’s no rules, really. You can do whatever want, however you feel, whenever you want. You can just show up at the course and showcase your unique type of riding style - it could be skatepark, or big air, no one cares, as long as you’re having fun. And I think that brings out the best in every rider."

As for how the Ruso brothers became involved with Backyard Battle in the first place? "That's actually a fun one," says Elias. He and his brother, Daniel, had a chat with their Monster Energy athlete manager back at Darkfest in 2022, about what it would look like to host some sort of event in their (impressive) backyard. They hosted the inaugural event in 2023. "It almost felt like an experiment," says Elias. "And now it's grown so fast, into this much bigger version already."

His excitement over the event's expansion has to do with what the series offers to riders at every stage in their careers. "I think that it's what freeride needs," he says. "Something where it’s all about having fun and enjoying riding as much as you can, surrounded by like-minded people."

Elias says that while it's hard to choose just one highlight from the event - "I was impressed with every single rider. It was so cool to see everbyody bringing out their best riding style." - the gals and the groms were particularly notable: "It was so cool to see the ladies shred as hard as they did, to see the girls hit the big drops or flow through the freeride line. It was also so cool to see the young ones - such as Max Hauer , an Austrian upcoming talent, fourteen years old and sending it hard, and Harry Gascoyne from the UK, also a newcomer, shredding insanely hard."

"Massive thank you to Monster Energy and Kenda Tires," says Elias. "They were our main supporters for the event and without those two none of this would happen, so we're very grateful."

The first Backyard Battle 2024 was hosted by Vero Sandler and Sam Hodgson June 3-7, in Wales. The remaining events are the Paul Couderc Edition, July 11-14 in France, Lukas Schafer’s Black Mass Edition August 20-24 in Germany, and the Adolf Silva Edition November 4-7 in Spain. We'll be following up with more recaps and athlete interviews after each event.